Life Lately // Puddles of Memories

Mark and I were chatting the other evening after we put the kids to bed

about the pictures we have saved on our computer.

In some respects,

they are the most prized "possession" Mark and I have.

If everything in this house burned and was reduced to ashes,

our pictures are the thing we would long for most.

The little memories frozen in time for us to look back on.

I'm not one to take my camera with me everywhere.

Sometimes, I feel like it weighs me down and is another "thing" for me to tend to.

When we do family Christmases, I snap a few shots and then put it away.

I want to be able to look back on those moments,

but I don't want to miss them because I am clicking away.

But this... daily life- I totally want to capture this!

I sit quietly and take it all in,

and then I freeze it.

It's almost as if I completely recreate the moments when I look back on the photos.

I can hear the sounds and see the sweetness that made me want to take the picture in the first place.

For instance, Liam laying down on the floor and loving his newest sister. Him telling her all about the corn turning brown and how he was going to harvest it in a few weeks. And, that she is too little to ride in the big combine this year, but maybe next year she could go.

I would easily forget his gentle hand on her tummy and how he pats her all the time. Or, how he can't keep his hands off of her soft head. We are constantly encouraging him to touch her feet, but pretty soon his hand travels up to her sweet hair and he rubs away.

Ella, looking on, making sure a wrong move isn't made. She is Julia's great protector. She practices picking her up off of the floor and gently bouncing her while she "shushes" her. It is a glimpse into her as a momma.

Little feet propped up in the basket as Guinnyth eats her snack. She always wants to be like her older siblings. She doesn't want to be left behind. As they sit in laundry baskets eating their snack, she runs and gets a small blue basket to sit in so she can mimic them.

Julia gets moments of quiet time when the kids are eating. She sits in her papasan and coos her time away. The kids peek around the counter and giggle as they listen to her. She is hands down the most popular person in this house right now. The kids ask about her first thing in the morning and request a hug and kiss from her every night. These small moments of quiet for her are rare.

Little snippets.

I hope, when my kids are grown, they look back and feel what it was like to be small all over again.